The BEST idea I ever had on reviewing Dewey for middle school was from LM_Net some time ago. (Thank you to the many people who said they use this and offered variations.) DEWEY GO FISH: Gather 52 books, 4 each from the various Dewey classes. (I use all the hundreds, biographies, Fiction, and SC story collections - 13 groups of 4 each.) Each table of students plays as a group. I usually give the table a number sign so that play is made more efficient. I deal out 7 "cards" to each table, keep the rest on a cart for "the deck" and review how to play the card game "Go Fish." I ask each table to select a spokesperson. This can change with every round, if needed.
Table # 1 goes first and asks Table # 2 for some Dewey area for which they have a book. (Ex. "Table # 2, Do you have any 200's?") Table # 1 must have a book in the 200's to ask for that category. If they are successful, Table # 1 gets another turn and they move on to ask Table # 3. If they are not successful, Table # 2 will say "Go Fish!" Table # 1 will send a representative up to "draw" a book from the "deck" that is left on the cart. Play will continue with Table # 2 taking a turn next, and so on.
One way to make this game more advanced is to ask each Table to use the area that the Dewey numbers stand for (Ex: "Table # 2, Do you have any religion books?") I usually leave a screen up with the Dewey categories that we are using so the students can refer to it. After one round of play, we reverse the direction of flow and Table # 2 will ask # 1, etc.
I always let the students check out the books they are using to play the game if they want, so I end up replenishing between every class, but it gives the students a view of areas of interest other than fiction. Give stickers or some small prize to the table that has the most groups of four books (Ex: all 4 of the 200's). As we play, I usually ask students to put the finished book groups in a pile in the center of their table. Takes 20 minutes, 30 would be better. I use this during orientation at the beginning of the year or for the second visit. -- Karen Perry, Wiley Middle School, Winston-Salem, NC
Students will select a book from an assigned section in the non-fiction area of the library. After reading the books, students will write a paragraph that summarizes the content area of the book. Students will illustrate the book that they read. Students will construct a mural by gluing their illustrations under the corresponding Dewey Decimal Classification. Students will make an oral presentation to the class in which they talk about the book they read.
Dewey Decimal Classification System Mural
Overview/Annotation:
Content Standard(s):
EL(3)
5. Interpret passages in print material.
EL(3)
27. Write meaningful simple sentences and short paragraphs.
EL(3)
33. Organize and present information in visual, oral, and/or print format.
IL(K-12)
1. The student who is information literate accesses information efficiently and effectively.
ELA(3)
4. Use a wide range of strategies and skills, including retelling information, using context clues, and making inferences to identify main idea, to comprehend third-grade informational and functional reading materials.
ELA(3)
9. Compose narrative texts using an introductory paragraph, specific time frames, clear sequencing of events, and a conclusion.
TC2(3-5)
8. Collect information from a variety of digital sources.
Local/National Standards:
Primary Learning Objective(s):
Students will explain the Dewey Decimal Classification System. Students will categorize books according to Dewey Decimal Classification. Students will present information orally to the class.
Computer with Internet access, word processing software (optional)
Background/Preparation:
For information on the Dewey Decimal Classification system, the following website provides an easy to understand overview: http://www.mtsu.edu/~vvesper/dewey.html
Divide bulletin board paper into ten columns that are the same width as the drawing paper the students will be using. Write each Dewey Decimal Classification heading and number at the top of each column.
Procedures/Activities:
1.)Day 1: Introduce the lesson by talking about organization. Ask students about grocery shopping...how do they find what is on their list, how do they know where certain products are located? What would happen if the groceries were just put on the shelves in no order? What about their closets and drawers at home? Are all the socks and underwear together? Shorts and shirts? What would happen if everything was mixed up and thrown together? Stress the importance of order. Next ask students how they go about finding books in the library. Teacher will probably hear that most students randomly choose books that interest them off the shelf. Now ask them how they would go about finding a specific book or type of book. Do they know that the library is organized in a way to make finding types of books easy? Ask students to share what they know about how the library is organized. Explain that they will be learning about a system called the Dewey Decimal Classification system.
2.)If computers are available for student use, have the following site bookmarked so students can access the story, "Dewey and the Alien". If there is only a class computer available read the story to the class from the website (use projection system, if available, so students can read along).
(Dewey and the Alien) This is a story to help students understand the Dewey Decimal Classification system.
3.)Take a trip to the school library and assign to each child a section of shelves from which they may select a book. Divide each classification section evenly among the students. Assist students in selecting a book that is appropriate for their age and reading level. Either provide class time to read the selected books or assign the reading for homework.
4.)Day 2: Students will write or type a paragraph summarizing the book they read. Then students will illustrate (or add clip art or graphics to typed text) the main subject of the book.
5.)Day 3: (Before the lesson the teacher should hang the prepared bulletin board paper in the classroom or the library if this activity is being completed there. See background section for details.) Explain and discuss the 10 subject headings on the bulletin board paper. Review the Dewey Decimal classification system briefly.
6.)Students will place their illustrations under the appropriate heading to create a mural.
7.)Students will tell the class about the book they read and identify the subject heading and DDC number under which the book may be found in the library.
Dewey
Could you make centers for each of the Dewey groups? put books in each center from that Dewey class. create questions /activities about & surrounding the books? rotate every _ minutes so each group will have gotten to each center? If space is a problem and you can not create centers in your library, use the tables where students sit.
I like to concentrate on showing students some of the neat books from each section and either read aloud a short one or do a short book talk on several from each section....for example, 000s have Loch Ness, UFOs, Big Foot, etc. Then I explain why these books are grouped here and show them how the OPAC will point them to the exact number where they can find them. I don't
really think the kids need to memorize the numbers, just know how to search and that books are grouped by subject.
Take some index cards and write the call numbers of a book in the section you want them to go to and have them practice finding non-fiction books using Dewey in a "scavenger hunt." Send them in pairs or individuals. This does involve re-shelving on your part at the end of the lesson!
Consider using the idea of neighborhoods for the different Dewey major subject headings. "Poetry lives in the 811 neighborhood." You get the idea. Think of the usual non-fiction topics 3rd graders frequent (dinosaurs, animals, pets, drawing, comics, space, military, etc.) and tell them the "address" for those neighborhoods.
Why don't you try breaking the kids up into groups and having them look in each section and try to come up with categories for the dewey area? This way they would be involved with their learning and they could teach the others. You could fill in what they miss.
I am really trying to move away from direct instruction and have the kids more involved as much as possible. It helps them make better connections and they are really motivated.
I have a lesson I love for Dewey. I divide the students into small groups and each group is assigned a "hundreds" section of the DDS. They go to the shelves and look at the titles and figure out what the BIG IDEA subjects are based on the titles. (e.g. tornadoes, storms, hurricanes = weather) The students then present their section to the rest of the class in the form of a "commercial". I even use my digital camera and record them. That way I can show the younger students as an introduction to Dewey and they can watch
themselves and their friends to reinforce what they've learned. Then we play a game to see how much they remember. I don't worry so much that they know what can be found at 636.6 as that they remember that Dewey groups books by subject and can be located by following the correct number.
I have a box full of "stuff" related to the Dewey sections. For instance, I have a little stuffed dog for the 600 pet section, a stuffed Loch Ness Monster for the 100's, a little football for the 700's, a big rock for the 500's, a little Italian phrase book for the 400's, etc. I toss them to the students and ask them to put the object in front of the correct Dewey poster. I have some from Demco I put across my marker
board. Even my 5th graders like this activity!! Good luck with your lesson.
P.S. - I'll also purchased a Melvil Dewey puppet from mimi's motifs on the internet. He is adorable and helps the kids learn the Dewey sections.
Here's something I've done...after a brief overview, or the 2nd week if I'm just introducing the Dewey Decimal stuff, I have little slips of
paper with each hundreds area "000-099", "100-199", etc. and have each kid pick one from a basket, then we all go to where the books are and stand next to our selected numbered area. ...Spend some time studying the books in that area, get an idea of what sorts of things are there. Then each child creates a small (half an index card size) illustration to represent that area of Dewey. Illustration is glued to a poster that I've prepared & labeled (i.e., 500-599, Science & Nature) for each hundreds area in advance. The posters then hang from the ceiling near the books to help all the kids in the school. Some years we put the posters together with rings to make a book for all to refer to. During
the first weeks of school I also have the older kids make small illustrations that identify the areas and tape them to the edges of the
book shelves to help the younger kids find things. I've bought bookmarks from Highsmith that are pretty basic and simple listing each area by hundred with a short identifying phrase for each area. These are helpful too. I've tried the power point approach and the Caveman story
approach and both seem to just lull the kids to sleep!!! I think it's something that has to be addressed and introduced to the kids, but not
necessarily drilled into them at the elementary level. I'm always looking for new ideas, so I hope you hear from some creative people.
As much hands-on as you can. The more I talk to them and explain things, the more kids I lose. I have collected a pile of objects and ask the kids to put them in one of the ten categories (posters I made with kid translations of the subjects in each). It has taken several years to find good objects. Tag sales in the summer get a lot of them. I'll give you a list when I get to school if you want.
Maybe having them go to the selves and figure out what is in each division. I give a bag of books (nonfic) with as many different subjects
as possible (collected from damaged, too old or donations that I can't use) each bag has at least 10 books in it and I ask each team to create two different ways to put them on a shelf, assuming that each book stands for 5-10 books on the same topic.
I start this whole unit with my mind reading performance. I ask a child to pick out a book from a crate of them in the front. I make a big thing of getting in tune with each volunteer (looking into their eyes, so I can align with the brainwaves) and of keeping my eyes closed while they pick a book. When they have a book I ask them the color of the front, the first letter of the author's name, how many words on the spince and oh by the way, what is on the spine label... Then I tell them what the book is about. If some wise guy says I've memorized all the books in the box, I ask him to go to the shelves of the Number section (I refuse to call it "Nonfiction" for a whole bunch of reasons).
I don't know how good of a lesson it would be for an observation b/c it can get pretty chaotic, but as a DDS review (particularly w/ 3rd grade), a lot of our librarians play Dewey Basketball...
1. class is divided into 3 teams
2. each student is given a very basic Dewey cheat sheet for reference
3. I stand next to the cart of unshelved books (b/c that is usually a good random cross-section) and ask each team member (in turn) what Dewey area the book is from.
4. If the student guesses correctly, his/her team gets one point
5. for a 2nd bonus point, he/she tries to shoot a nerf ball into a wastebasket set several feet away
6. every student gets one chance to guess and one chance to shoot
I've also used it w/ 1st grade to identify fiction/non-fiction books. I have tried so many, many times to get both dewey and
the alpha order of the picture book/fiction sections across. Many tries, no real success until this year, with a new trick.
I printed out oversized call numbers, once section only, on cardstock. Each one is about 1.5-2" tall, and 8.5" wide,
with large print. I have focused on one section at a time (first was picture books). I have a stack of these. As kids
find the right place on the shelf and return to me, I take the one they just used and give them another. I let them
go individually, or with friends if they are less sure/want company.
Sure signs that this is a better lesson than those I've tried before are: 1) many kids come back over and over until they've run through the whole stack, 2) LOTS of kids enjoy doing this for fun, 3) I have learned some things about what's clear/not from their questions.
For example, since my picture call #s tend to be of the form 'E PIL' or 'E POLACCO', I note that the perennially
confused often look first at the E, and mentally have trouble moving from there! 'E' of course just means "go to the picture book section for starters". I also had to point out that 'E WIL' is a find for any WIL author (Willems, Williams, Wilhelm). I have pointed out to the
kids that as I get new books, I am using the full name, and running it up the spine so that it's all readable. But standard practice (first three letters, since tag was put across the spine) will take a while to change!
My paperbacks are in baskets at the start of each letter (they act as guideposts also), because they are all so floppy and thin. So the tags can be 'PB E PEET' or 'E PEET', for example. First is a paperback (in the P bin), 2nd is a hardcover on the shelf, not all that far beyond the
P paperbacks bin.
This works MUCH, MUCH better than anything else I've ever tried, and I've tried quite a bit! I also point out to the kids that it takes 4-5 cards to get the hang of it, and I ask them to stick with it at least that long. Then the lightbulb goes on, and they want to keep going. :)
I will do the same with NF and FIC eventually, then get tricky and mix them all up to send the kids all over the
library. :) The teachers have commented on this too, and enjoyed literally seeing the kids get the hang of it. Like
so many other things with kids, having even a few who 'get it' and start double-timing it back for a new card
generates interest with classmates, and then all of them get into it!
We play Dewey Tag. (this can get loud) I make signs with all of the Dewey categories and place them around the library. I hold up a book and start my 20 sec timer. The students have to quickly go to the sign for the section the book would go in. This is great for those that struggle with the Dewey because they can follow the group. Once the time is up I have someone in each group tell me why the book should be in the section they chose. We get into heated debates about dogs being animals or pets.
We play Dewey matchup. I made multiple sets of Dewey matchup cards. Each set contains a card with 000-900 on it and a matching card that lists subjects (and has pictures) that you might find in the category. The students get into pairs or groups of 3 (depends on how many students I have) and play the game. This can also get a little crazy because when the students turn over 400s and have no clue what is in that section, the entire group/pair usually goes to the 400s to try to figure it out. The day I played this with my 2nd grade, my parent volunteer commented that she had never seen her son, Mr. Competitive, so involved in a library lesson.
cut pictures from many magazines and laminated them and put 25, but you could put any number, in plastic zip lock bags. I gave each bag to one pair ( my groups are usually 2 or 3 in a group ) the kids usually choose their own groups, unless I see a problem there.
The objective is for the kids to give each picture the correct Dewey number or the number they think is best. Each picture has a number. So, for example, they would write:
#25 cat - domestic animal 636
It's interesting because sometimes the kids think the picture is something other than what I thought it was. Now that won't happen with a cat, but ...
It really doesn't matter, as long as their thinking is followed through with the correct Dewey #.
Anyway, it's hands on and principals like that kind of thing. The members of the group can discuss their ideas with eachother and
take turns being the one who writes etc.
Hi! I give Deweylessons to kids in grades 3-5. We start school with an introductory lesson on how to find things in the library. Then I do lessons on fiction and non-fiction. I start with stories that are from someone's imagination and work on that first
- getting to the term "fiction". Then I would spend some time on books that are based on fact, and get into the term "non-fiction".
Hands on might include a basket with mixed books and sorting them into "stories from someone's imagination" and "stories based on facts"....
Scholastic has a new product that has fiction and non-fiction pairings of books that would work for your grade level.
I tell my kids that all the books in the library have a Dewey number, just the other day I was explaining
that the fiction novels, even though they are located separately, have a Dewey number...854... I asked the
kids what category that is...they got it! Literature! These were 5th graders, a bit different for you.
As part of that lesson, I copied the Dewey Sheet from one of the workbooks I have. It also has titles on
it. You read the titles and figure out its category. So Frogs and Toads would go into Science - 500.
If I had some objects, I would think about what
category they could go into.
a jump rope --- sports
a frog --- science, fairy tales
a football --- sports
a diorama of the solar system --- science
a plant --- science
a poem about fall ... poetry...literature, connect to
science
It's kind of the main idea - in the library.
I have a list posted in the Library, what category for
which 100...
000-099 - General
100-199 - Philosophy....
That way the kids can look up books in an interest area. My 3rd graders are great! One little boy goes
right to the dinosaur section all by himself!
Do you have an OPAC - the kids could also do a "finding game" - name two titles by author Seymour Simon, what are the call numbers and which Dewey category are they in? ... They all love getting on the computer! Searching the OPAC is something else
they need to know how to do too!
Sometimes, I have a Library Squad to help me sort books. They look through to find the biographies, they look through to find the fiction (those are really easy for me to put away). Then we get out the cards. I put them on a table.
0 100 200 300 400
500 600 700 800 900
Then they sort them into the stacks. Further and further they go, to make it easier to put them away.
Take one the hundreds and then sorts them into tens...
0 10 20 30 40
50 60 70 80 90
Then take the tens and sort then into ones, etc...
For a closure/review, you could play a game like Scavenger hunt. You could form teams and have one student from each team "run" to the shelf that has whatever book/topic you call out. So you could say "Football" and they would need to find the area and then the shelf first. We do this and they love it.
I begin in 3rd grade with extensive lessons for several weeks. I have tagboard cut into 2 in by 10 inch pieces with call numbers on the
cards. These are "spines" and children are "books on the shelf." We practice lining up (3 or 4 at at time with rest of class checking them
until all class is "on the shelf.") When they can do this, we then take these spines to the shelf and show me where that book would be placed. I begin with E books, then Fiction, then NF. After some capability is demonstrated, the children shelve the books for me. (They keep me caught up on shelving.)They do one area of ability at a time. For 2-3 weeks they work with partners checking one another. After this skill is acquired, we move to card catalog. Since they know call numbers, I have overhead to demonstrate/discuss information. At this age, they care only about title, call number, author. I briefly touch on other information but think only the student interested will make the effort to know this. I have a huge quantity of cards from the conversion to computer catalog. I pass out cards and let students find the books. They are so proud to actually find a real book and demonstrate skill.We then move to computer catalog. All along, once child is able, the 3-4-5th graders shelve the book they return AFTER being scanned. This makes me only have to shelve 1-2 books, so I can keep up. It gives them practice on their skill.
Long ago I saw a professionally produced set of blocks with the Dewey numbers and illustrations about the subjects on each one. I have
collected lots of Celeste Frozen Pizza disks (for microwaving) to have children cover them with similar numbers and pictures from magazines (or original art). I haven't done it yet. If you're in a classroom, maybe you could put up 10disks (posterboard, etc.) to have the whole class participate in illustrating each one. ( Example: 500--599 pictures of fish, mammals, rain forest, dinosaurs, plants,weather, math, experiments, etc.) I have made up individual floor plans of the library I use with my 5th grades (connecting it with Columbus Day & an atlas study unit). They have to find the different Dewey sections and label the floor plan. I'm also planning to have them "visit" a country by reading a book from the 900's, and displaying their research on the world map in the hallway. My 4th grades "do" a poetry unit to learn 800's. I've heard of librarians introducing (booktalking) each section of the Dewey collection (one a week). This year I also bought a Dewey "comic" from Highsmith, but am disappointed in it.
I've always enjoyed stories with blanks and a Dewey number in parenthesis next to the blank which clues the student as to what goes in
the blank. They have to go to the shelves or look at a classification sheet to fill it in! For example: Once there was a boy who was looking
up at the _(523) moon? He said to himself there ought to be a __ (340) law? You have to create the story by looking over your shelves
and checking where you have several books on the same number likely to be in. I have one of these stories around somewhere that I received at a workshop.
I have created a great game I play with my students. I have a sheet of paper filled with icons and corresponding dewey decimal numbers.
(a picture of a dinosaur with 568 under it). I split the kids up into 3 or 4 teams and have 2 members of each team sit in front of me.
I select a book from a cart being careful to cover the spine label. I show the students the cover of the book and the students attempt to
match the cover with the one of the icons. First person to correctly identify the right number wins. Then 2 more people from each team
come and we rotate around. I only allow one answer per person unless everyone has gotten the number wrong and then I will allow a second
answer. The winning team gets 10 points and I have a little basketball hoop set up (you could use a trashcan) where my winners
can win more points by making a basket.
I designed a problem solving lesson for a class I took. It turned out to by a huge success. I have 4th grade students for 30 min. each week, so this took about 6 weeks. I put them into small groups and did team building activities for three weeks, keeping the same groups. When they were working well together I placed 15 nonfiction books (4-5 books from each of 3-4 subject areas, i.e. dinosaurs, birds, poetry, etc.) on each table. I had previously covered the call numbers with removeable stickers. The first assignment was to be detectives and try to figure out as many ways as possible to arrange the books (brainstorming). They came up with things as diverse as gender of the author, copyright date and number of pages! The next week I wrote all suggestions on board and each group had to choose one that they thought would be the best way to arrange the books in order for people to find ones they were looking for. They then arranged the books on their table in that manner.
During the third session each group had to present their plan and the class had to reach a consensus on one best way. Each group arranged their books in that manner. I would accept whatever arrangement they came up with. All 3 classes
decided it would be best to arrange by SUBJECT! Yahoo. From there we talked about the Dewey classifications. I do not have them learn
those, but want them to have the basic idea. This lesson seemed to accomplish my objectives and had them thinking and solving problems
along the way.
This suggestion probably comes after you have "taught" the Dewey Decimal System, but our classes like to play Dewey Decimal Bingo. I pass out a sheet of paper already divided into 9 squares [3 x 3]. I let the students "make" their own game board by having them write wherever they want 9 of the 10 DD catagories [ie. 000, 100, 200, etc.]. Then I call out titles of non-fiction books [making sure the title pretty much assures being able to guess the correct category] and we play traditional 3 in a row or 4 corners. Of course, they have a 'cheat sheet' of each of the 10 categories and a brief description of each so they have something to go by. They like the fact that they have created their own gameboard, and therefore, their own luck.
Try having kids illustrate "quilt" squares for each division. They have to research their section, design their square and then draw and color.
You can then assemble the quilt with "backing" and hang. Just paper, not material and no sewing.
For the third year I'm having my classes make their own "Dewey Tree of Knowledge" by explaining that the different classifications were like
brancheof a tree. They will draw a picture of a tree and put ten brachnes on thetree. Each branch will be labeled with each number and
the corresponding classification. They can put anything else in the picture that they want. I tell them that they will not be graded on
their art work (that helps with someof the non-artists), but on the content. If they just put the numbers, that's points off. If they just
put the classifications, that's points off. They have to include both. Explain that just the numbers doesn't tell me anything and just the
classifications doesn't tell me where anything would go. It hasworked. Most of the children seem to like this approach. I saved some of
thework from the past two years to show the students this year and they loved seeing what other students drew.
I usually do a series of lessons where I "book talk" Dewey. I do an intro. explaining that Dewey is sort of like a secret code, talk about
the universality (?) of it, how it works in the public library, too, and at other school libraries, etc. Then each week covers 1-3 of the
hundreds, with selected books to show examples of what would be found in that section. At some point I even give an elaborate demonstration of the numbers after the decimal - showing the difference, for example, in 599.1, 599.2, 599.73, 599.74, 599.78, etc. The students are usually interested in how it works. As a culminating activity, the students do a "treasure hunt" in pairs or small groups, with a worksheet with only dewey numbers. They have to find a book on the shelf with the matching dewey and write down what the subject of that book is. The group with the most correct answers wins special bookmarks.
A friend of mine did a scavenger hunt, dividing the students into teams and giving them a variety of clues. One wet and rainy week, she even
divided them into 2 teams and had them race to different sections - obviously, as she pointed out, it had been a long week with a lot of
rain.
First I tell them how easy it is to find book using the Dewey System if they know how to count from 1 to 10 and by 100s to a 1,000. Then I do two activities, one we play stump Mrs. Geronzina and they think of a subject and I tell them the call number and decimal point if there will be one for the subejct they give me. (They always think I'm very smart because I can do this.) the other activity is that I wrtie the call
numbers and titles for about 30 books on cards. I give them the card and they find the book and bring it to me. then they take the book bac
and put in on the shelf where they got it. Give them a marker to put in the books place because if you are going to do this with very many
classes the books have to be in the right places to be dound again. These activities are a lot of fun.
Although a much smaller school (K-8 with a total of 375 students), I too found a much neglected card catalog and just a glimmer of hope for
automation. A few activities I have done :
Always stress the call number when a student is looking for a particular book;
Scavenger Hunt sort of thing - either give the call number & have them find the book or list various subjects, have them look as a team to find those books and jot down the call number;
tell that old Dewey story - wandering through, he had an idea, etc. I'm sure someone will suggest it;
I have done an anctivity with 3rd & 4th graders where I hand-write a card with each of their names, file it in the card catalog. So then they
have to look alphabetically then go to the number on the corner of the card to sit where it says. It is time consuming to set up, but always lots of fun. I always look up my own first where it says NEVER take a card from the drawer - this is just for fun, etc. And I ask the teacher to stay to find her name too then it says something like - Mrs. Jones you have the best class in the world.
And I have tried to take one section per week to talk about what's there and do a related activity. But I haven't had good luck with getting through all ten divisions. Maybe this year.
How about a scavenger hunt with you giving them the call numbers (I call them book addresses) of certain books and a work sheet with lines on it for them to supply the titles and authors of the books. I usually let them work in teams of 2. You could also divide them into 10 groups and assign each to a grouping of Dewey. The object is to find three different subjects in each of the Dewey groups and to make up pantomimes using any objects except their voices to teach the rest of the class about their numbers. I usually model the 000's
and the 100's so that they see what to do. This takes a little prep but it went over well last year.
With the younger ones I have some laminated strips of construction paper that I write simple book addresses on with water soluble marker. I usually use just the easy authors so that they get used to the order on the shelves.
I've also done floor plans where I give them the labels and they have to walk around and find out where they belong. This is usually a good intro to the library.
200's Who made me? How did I get here? (Religion, mythology)
300's Living in community with others
400's Communicating with others (Languages)
500's This world around me
600's What can we do with this world around us?
700's What can I do with my free time?
800's Let's write down our thoughts
900's Let's write down about our world and our history
000's The unexplained, many subjects in one book, miscellaneous info
Our K-2 respond well to the concept of "neighborhoods" as described in Shelf
Elf Helps Out by Jackie Mims Hopkins. It can be broken downand presented in
more than one lesson.
Something I was thinking about in my library, was to assign a community
helper (first grade studies community helpers) to each of the dewey
sections. Like a librarian for the 000's. Have not tried it yet, or
finished thinking about it yet, but if it inspires you let me know what you
do with it.
I do "kid friendly terms" like:
000-random things
100-thinking books
200-religions
300-old stories
400-languages
500-animals and science
600-how to books
700-fun activities
800-poems and songs
900-history
lanie- I always found that referring to the shelves as streets and the books
as houses on the streets helped get the idea of location across- then i
would say that the Dewey ## are the Book's address. I have never worked with
K's before,but first graders have never had a problem with the concept. bbrown@altonschools.org
Check out my Dewey Decimal for Kids--and if you come up with better
kid-friendly terms, let me know as I'm always open to suggestions. On the
LM-Net wiki you'll find it in a word doc on the Dewey Decimal page: http://lmnet.wikispaces.com/Dewey+Decimal+System Lots of other good stuff
there as well.
Years ago, when movies came out on VHS, WalMart would advertise with these
big cardboard displays. I got those and put them on the top of my tall
shelves. These are the ones used: Cinderella's Castle for the 398.2 section.
Buzz & Woody from Toy Story for Space. Bug's Life for the 500's. "Real"
dalmations from 101 Dalmations for "real" animals in the 700's. (as compared
to the animated animals in the Easy section.) Aristocats for the 900's
because they were "famous cats"... biographies. Lion King for Africa and
foreign countries.
They were huge but great because I could be across the library, point to the
dalmations and tell the child to look on the 3rd shelf down.
Have you seen those Ellison die-cuts? I had those on individual shelves
also.(not in this picture though)
One idea might be to use a few small pictures of the books that are included
in the Dewey section. Like for the 500s, have a sign that says Science but
then have pictures of animals, the earth, and weather (clouds or something).
That way they can get a better idea of what is in each section by seeing
pictures that are probably familiar to them.
Did you try the Wiki? Someone made a great set of Dewey sign using Wordle.
Long, long ago (originally 1979, reprinted in 1986) Learning magazine
printed a wonderfully simple version of the ten Dewey decades which I have
used ever since with my elementary students.
100s Thinking, Feeling and Wondering
200s Religion and Prayer
300s Living and Learning Together
400s Words and Languages
500s Nature and Numbers
600s Making, Selling and Fixing Things
700s Arts and Play
800s Literature
900s People, Places and Events
000s Odds and Ends
Might a version of this serve the needs of your little ones?
The original poster printed in the magazine included a somewhat more
detailed description for each decade. (ex. "500s--This includes books about
animals, plants, oceans, stars, mathematics, electricity, gravity and
chemistry.") I have a copy of this text and will be happy to send it to you
if you think it would be useful.
http://deweyresearch.oclc.org/classify2/
The BEST idea I ever had on reviewing Dewey for middle school was from LM_Net some time ago. (Thank you to the many people who said they use this and offered variations.)
DEWEY GO FISH: Gather 52 books, 4 each from the various Dewey classes. (I use all the hundreds, biographies, Fiction, and SC story collections - 13 groups of 4 each.) Each table of students plays as a group. I usually give the table a number sign so that play is made more efficient. I deal out 7 "cards" to each table, keep the rest on a cart for "the deck" and review how to play the card game "Go Fish." I ask each table to select a spokesperson. This can change with every round, if needed.
Table # 1 goes first and asks Table # 2 for some Dewey area for which they have a book. (Ex. "Table # 2, Do you have any 200's?") Table # 1 must have a book in the 200's to ask for that category. If they are successful, Table # 1 gets another turn and they move on to ask Table # 3. If they are not successful, Table # 2 will say "Go Fish!" Table # 1 will send a representative up to "draw" a book from the "deck" that is left on the cart. Play will continue with Table # 2 taking a turn next, and so on.
One way to make this game more advanced is to ask each Table to use the area that the Dewey numbers stand for (Ex: "Table # 2, Do you have any religion books?") I usually leave a screen up with the Dewey categories that we are using so the students can refer to it. After one round of play, we reverse the direction of flow and Table # 2 will ask # 1, etc.
I always let the students check out the books they are using to play the game if they want, so I end up replenishing between every class, but it gives the students a view of areas of interest other than fiction. Give stickers or some small prize to the table that has the most groups of four books (Ex: all 4 of the 200's). As we play, I usually ask students to put the finished book groups in a pile in the center of their table. Takes 20 minutes, 30 would be better. I use this during orientation at the beginning of the year or for the second visit. -- Karen Perry, Wiley Middle School, Winston-Salem, NC
Students will select a book from an assigned section in the non-fiction area of the library. After reading the books, students will write a paragraph that summarizes the content area of the book. Students will illustrate the book that they read. Students will construct a mural by gluing their illustrations under the corresponding Dewey Decimal Classification. Students will make an oral presentation to the class in which they talk about the book they read.
Divide bulletin board paper into ten columns that are the same width as the drawing paper the students will be using. Write each Dewey Decimal Classification heading and number at the top of each column.
2.)If computers are available for student use, have the following site bookmarked so students can access the story, "Dewey and the Alien". If there is only a class computer available read the story to the class from the website (use projection system, if available, so students can read along).
(Dewey and the Alien)
This is a story to help students understand the Dewey Decimal Classification system.
3.)Take a trip to the school library and assign to each child a section of shelves from which they may select a book. Divide each classification section evenly among the students. Assist students in selecting a book that is appropriate for their age and reading level. Either provide class time to read the selected books or assign the reading for homework.
4.)Day 2: Students will write or type a paragraph summarizing the book they read. Then students will illustrate (or add clip art or graphics to typed text) the main subject of the book.
5.)Day 3: (Before the lesson the teacher should hang the prepared bulletin board paper in the classroom or the library if this activity is being completed there. See background section for details.) Explain and discuss the 10 subject headings on the bulletin board paper. Review the Dewey Decimal classification system briefly.
6.)Students will place their illustrations under the appropriate heading to create a mural.
7.)Students will tell the class about the book they read and identify the subject heading and DDC number under which the book may be found in the library.
Dewey
Could you make centers for each of the Dewey groups? put books in each center from that Dewey class. create questions /activities about & surrounding the books? rotate every _ minutes so each group will have gotten to each center? If space is a problem and you can not create centers in your library, use the tables where students sit.
I like to concentrate on showing students some of the neat books from each section and either read aloud a short one or do a short book talk on several from each section....for example, 000s have Loch Ness, UFOs, Big Foot, etc. Then I explain why these books are grouped here and show them how the OPAC will point them to the exact number where they can find them. I don't
really think the kids need to memorize the numbers, just know how to search and that books are grouped by subject.
Take some index cards and write the call numbers of a book in the section you want them to go to and have them practice finding non-fiction books using Dewey in a "scavenger hunt." Send them in pairs or individuals. This does involve re-shelving on your part at the end of the lesson!
Consider using the idea of neighborhoods for the different Dewey major subject headings. "Poetry lives in the 811 neighborhood." You get the idea. Think of the usual non-fiction topics 3rd graders frequent (dinosaurs, animals, pets, drawing, comics, space, military, etc.) and tell them the "address" for those neighborhoods.
Why don't you try breaking the kids up into groups and having them look in each section and try to come up with categories for the dewey area? This way they would be involved with their learning and they could teach the others. You could fill in what they miss.
I am really trying to move away from direct instruction and have the kids more involved as much as possible. It helps them make better connections and they are really motivated.
I have a lesson I love for Dewey. I divide the students into small groups and each group is assigned a "hundreds" section of the DDS. They go to the shelves and look at the titles and figure out what the BIG IDEA subjects are based on the titles. (e.g. tornadoes, storms, hurricanes = weather) The students then present their section to the rest of the class in the form of a "commercial". I even use my digital camera and record them. That way I can show the younger students as an introduction to Dewey and they can watch
themselves and their friends to reinforce what they've learned. Then we play a game to see how much they remember. I don't worry so much that they know what can be found at 636.6 as that they remember that Dewey groups books by subject and can be located by following the correct number.
I have a box full of "stuff" related to the Dewey sections. For instance, I have a little stuffed dog for the 600 pet section, a stuffed Loch Ness Monster for the 100's, a little football for the 700's, a big rock for the 500's, a little Italian phrase book for the 400's, etc. I toss them to the students and ask them to put the object in front of the correct Dewey poster. I have some from Demco I put across my marker
board. Even my 5th graders like this activity!! Good luck with your lesson.
P.S. - I'll also purchased a Melvil Dewey puppet from mimi's motifs on the internet. He is adorable and helps the kids learn the Dewey sections.
Here's something I've done...after a brief overview, or the 2nd week if I'm just introducing the Dewey Decimal stuff, I have little slips of
paper with each hundreds area "000-099", "100-199", etc. and have each kid pick one from a basket, then we all go to where the books are and stand next to our selected numbered area. ...Spend some time studying the books in that area, get an idea of what sorts of things are there. Then each child creates a small (half an index card size) illustration to represent that area of Dewey. Illustration is glued to a poster that I've prepared & labeled (i.e., 500-599, Science & Nature) for each hundreds area in advance. The posters then hang from the ceiling near the books to help all the kids in the school. Some years we put the posters together with rings to make a book for all to refer to. During
the first weeks of school I also have the older kids make small illustrations that identify the areas and tape them to the edges of the
book shelves to help the younger kids find things. I've bought bookmarks from Highsmith that are pretty basic and simple listing each area by hundred with a short identifying phrase for each area. These are helpful too. I've tried the power point approach and the Caveman story
approach and both seem to just lull the kids to sleep!!! I think it's something that has to be addressed and introduced to the kids, but not
necessarily drilled into them at the elementary level. I'm always looking for new ideas, so I hope you hear from some creative people.
As much hands-on as you can. The more I talk to them and explain things, the more kids I lose. I have collected a pile of objects and ask the kids to put them in one of the ten categories (posters I made with kid translations of the subjects in each). It has taken several years to find good objects. Tag sales in the summer get a lot of them. I'll give you a list when I get to school if you want.
Maybe having them go to the selves and figure out what is in each division. I give a bag of books (nonfic) with as many different subjects
as possible (collected from damaged, too old or donations that I can't use) each bag has at least 10 books in it and I ask each team to create two different ways to put them on a shelf, assuming that each book stands for 5-10 books on the same topic.
I start this whole unit with my mind reading performance. I ask a child to pick out a book from a crate of them in the front. I make a big thing of getting in tune with each volunteer (looking into their eyes, so I can align with the brainwaves) and of keeping my eyes closed while they pick a book. When they have a book I ask them the color of the front, the first letter of the author's name, how many words on the spince and oh by the way, what is on the spine label... Then I tell them what the book is about. If some wise guy says I've memorized all the books in the box, I ask him to go to the shelves of the Number section (I refuse to call it "Nonfiction" for a whole bunch of reasons).
I don't know how good of a lesson it would be for an observation b/c it can get pretty chaotic, but as a DDS review (particularly w/ 3rd grade), a lot of our librarians play Dewey Basketball...
1. class is divided into 3 teams
2. each student is given a very basic Dewey cheat sheet for reference
3. I stand next to the cart of unshelved books (b/c that is usually a good random cross-section) and ask each team member (in turn) what Dewey area the book is from.
4. If the student guesses correctly, his/her team gets one point
5. for a 2nd bonus point, he/she tries to shoot a nerf ball into a wastebasket set several feet away
6. every student gets one chance to guess and one chance to shoot
I've also used it w/ 1st grade to identify fiction/non-fiction books. I have tried so many, many times to get both dewey and
the alpha order of the picture book/fiction sections across. Many tries, no real success until this year, with a new trick.
I printed out oversized call numbers, once section only, on cardstock. Each one is about 1.5-2" tall, and 8.5" wide,
with large print. I have focused on one section at a time (first was picture books). I have a stack of these. As kids
find the right place on the shelf and return to me, I take the one they just used and give them another. I let them
go individually, or with friends if they are less sure/want company.
Sure signs that this is a better lesson than those I've tried before are: 1) many kids come back over and over until they've run through the whole stack, 2) LOTS of kids enjoy doing this for fun, 3) I have learned some things about what's clear/not from their questions.
For example, since my picture call #s tend to be of the form 'E PIL' or 'E POLACCO', I note that the perennially
confused often look first at the E, and mentally have trouble moving from there! 'E' of course just means "go to the picture book section for starters". I also had to point out that 'E WIL' is a find for any WIL author (Willems, Williams, Wilhelm). I have pointed out to the
kids that as I get new books, I am using the full name, and running it up the spine so that it's all readable. But standard practice (first three letters, since tag was put across the spine) will take a while to change!
My paperbacks are in baskets at the start of each letter (they act as guideposts also), because they are all so floppy and thin. So the tags can be 'PB E PEET' or 'E PEET', for example. First is a paperback (in the P bin), 2nd is a hardcover on the shelf, not all that far beyond the
P paperbacks bin.
This works MUCH, MUCH better than anything else I've ever tried, and I've tried quite a bit! I also point out to the kids that it takes 4-5 cards to get the hang of it, and I ask them to stick with it at least that long. Then the lightbulb goes on, and they want to keep going. :)
I will do the same with NF and FIC eventually, then get tricky and mix them all up to send the kids all over the
library. :) The teachers have commented on this too, and enjoyed literally seeing the kids get the hang of it. Like
so many other things with kids, having even a few who 'get it' and start double-timing it back for a new card
generates interest with classmates, and then all of them get into it!
We play Dewey Tag. (this can get loud) I make signs with all of the Dewey categories and place them around the library. I hold up a book and start my 20 sec timer. The students have to quickly go to the sign for the section the book would go in. This is great for those that struggle with the Dewey because they can follow the group. Once the time is up I have someone in each group tell me why the book should be in the section they chose. We get into heated debates about dogs being animals or pets.
We play Dewey matchup. I made multiple sets of Dewey matchup cards. Each set contains a card with 000-900 on it and a matching card that lists subjects (and has pictures) that you might find in the category. The students get into pairs or groups of 3 (depends on how many students I have) and play the game. This can also get a little crazy because when the students turn over 400s and have no clue what is in that section, the entire group/pair usually goes to the 400s to try to figure it out. The day I played this with my 2nd grade, my parent volunteer commented that she had never seen her son, Mr. Competitive, so involved in a library lesson.
cut pictures from many magazines and laminated them and put 25, but you could put any number, in plastic zip lock bags. I gave each bag to one pair ( my groups are usually 2 or 3 in a group ) the kids usually choose their own groups, unless I see a problem there.
The objective is for the kids to give each picture the correct Dewey number or the number they think is best. Each picture has a number. So, for example, they would write:
#25 cat - domestic animal 636
It's interesting because sometimes the kids think the picture is something other than what I thought it was. Now that won't happen with a cat, but ...
It really doesn't matter, as long as their thinking is followed through with the correct Dewey #.
Anyway, it's hands on and principals like that kind of thing. The members of the group can discuss their ideas with eachother and
take turns being the one who writes etc.
Hi! I give Dewey lessons to kids in grades 3-5. We start school with an introductory lesson on how to find things in the library. Then I do lessons on fiction and non-fiction. I start with stories that are from someone's imagination and work on that first
- getting to the term "fiction". Then I would spend some time on books that are based on fact, and get into the term "non-fiction".
Hands on might include a basket with mixed books and sorting them into "stories from someone's imagination" and "stories based on facts"....
Scholastic has a new product that has fiction and non-fiction pairings of books that would work for your grade level.
I tell my kids that all the books in the library have a Dewey number, just the other day I was explaining
that the fiction novels, even though they are located separately, have a Dewey number...854... I asked the
kids what category that is...they got it! Literature! These were 5th graders, a bit different for you.
As part of that lesson, I copied the Dewey Sheet from one of the workbooks I have. It also has titles on
it. You read the titles and figure out its category. So Frogs and Toads would go into Science - 500.
If I had some objects, I would think about what
category they could go into.
a jump rope --- sports
a frog --- science, fairy tales
a football --- sports
a diorama of the solar system --- science
a plant --- science
a poem about fall ... poetry...literature, connect to
science
It's kind of the main idea - in the library.
I have a list posted in the Library, what category for
which 100...
000-099 - General
100-199 - Philosophy....
That way the kids can look up books in an interest area. My 3rd graders are great! One little boy goes
right to the dinosaur section all by himself!
Do you have an OPAC - the kids could also do a "finding game" - name two titles by author Seymour Simon, what are the call numbers and which Dewey category are they in? ... They all love getting on the computer! Searching the OPAC is something else
they need to know how to do too!
Sometimes, I have a Library Squad to help me sort books. They look through to find the biographies, they look through to find the fiction (those are really easy for me to put away). Then we get out the cards. I put them on a table.
0 100 200 300 400
500 600 700 800 900
Then they sort them into the stacks. Further and further they go, to make it easier to put them away.
Take one the hundreds and then sorts them into tens...
0 10 20 30 40
50 60 70 80 90
Then take the tens and sort then into ones, etc...
For a closure/review, you could play a game like Scavenger hunt. You could form teams and have one student from each team "run" to the shelf that has whatever book/topic you call out. So you could say "Football" and they would need to find the area and then the shelf first. We do this and they love it.
I begin in 3rd grade with extensive lessons for several weeks. I have tagboard cut into 2 in by 10 inch pieces with call numbers on the
cards. These are "spines" and children are "books on the shelf." We practice lining up (3 or 4 at at time with rest of class checking them
until all class is "on the shelf.") When they can do this, we then take these spines to the shelf and show me where that book would be placed. I begin with E books, then Fiction, then NF. After some capability is demonstrated, the children shelve the books for me. (They keep me caught up on shelving.)They do one area of ability at a time. For 2-3 weeks they work with partners checking one another. After this skill is acquired, we move to card catalog. Since they know call numbers, I have overhead to demonstrate/discuss information. At this age, they care only about title, call number, author. I briefly touch on other information but think only the student interested will make the effort to know this. I have a huge quantity of cards from the conversion to computer catalog. I pass out cards and let students find the books. They are so proud to actually find a real book and demonstrate skill.We then move to computer catalog. All along, once child is able, the 3-4-5th graders shelve the book they return AFTER being scanned. This makes me only have to shelve 1-2 books, so I can keep up. It gives them practice on their skill.
Long ago I saw a professionally produced set of blocks with the Dewey numbers and illustrations about the subjects on each one. I have
collected lots of Celeste Frozen Pizza disks (for microwaving) to have children cover them with similar numbers and pictures from magazines (or original art). I haven't done it yet. If you're in a classroom, maybe you could put up 10disks (posterboard, etc.) to have the whole class participate in illustrating each one. ( Example: 500--599 pictures of fish, mammals, rain forest, dinosaurs, plants,weather, math, experiments, etc.) I have made up individual floor plans of the library I use with my 5th grades (connecting it with Columbus Day & an atlas study unit). They have to find the different Dewey sections and label the floor plan. I'm also planning to have them "visit" a country by reading a book from the 900's, and displaying their research on the world map in the hallway. My 4th grades "do" a poetry unit to learn 800's. I've heard of librarians introducing (booktalking) each section of the Dewey collection (one a week). This year I also bought a Dewey "comic" from Highsmith, but am disappointed in it.
I've always enjoyed stories with blanks and a Dewey number in parenthesis next to the blank which clues the student as to what goes in
the blank. They have to go to the shelves or look at a classification sheet to fill it in! For example: Once there was a boy who was looking
up at the _(523) moon? He said to himself there ought to be a __ (340) law? You have to create the story by looking over your shelves
and checking where you have several books on the same number likely to be in. I have one of these stories around somewhere that I received at a workshop.
I have created a great game I play with my students. I have a sheet of paper filled with icons and corresponding dewey decimal numbers.
(a picture of a dinosaur with 568 under it). I split the kids up into 3 or 4 teams and have 2 members of each team sit in front of me.
I select a book from a cart being careful to cover the spine label. I show the students the cover of the book and the students attempt to
match the cover with the one of the icons. First person to correctly identify the right number wins. Then 2 more people from each team
come and we rotate around. I only allow one answer per person unless everyone has gotten the number wrong and then I will allow a second
answer. The winning team gets 10 points and I have a little basketball hoop set up (you could use a trashcan) where my winners
can win more points by making a basket.
I designed a problem solving lesson for a class I took. It turned out to by a huge success. I have 4th grade students for 30 min. each week, so this took about 6 weeks. I put them into small groups and did team building activities for three weeks, keeping the same groups. When they were working well together I placed 15 nonfiction books (4-5 books from each of 3-4 subject areas, i.e. dinosaurs, birds, poetry, etc.) on each table. I had previously covered the call numbers with removeable stickers. The first assignment was to be detectives and try to figure out as many ways as possible to arrange the books (brainstorming). They came up with things as diverse as gender of the author, copyright date and number of pages! The next week I wrote all suggestions on board and each group had to choose one that they thought would be the best way to arrange the books in order for people to find ones they were looking for. They then arranged the books on their table in that manner.
During the third session each group had to present their plan and the class had to reach a consensus on one best way. Each group arranged their books in that manner. I would accept whatever arrangement they came up with. All 3 classes
decided it would be best to arrange by SUBJECT! Yahoo. From there we talked about the Dewey classifications. I do not have them learn
those, but want them to have the basic idea. This lesson seemed to accomplish my objectives and had them thinking and solving problems
along the way.
This suggestion probably comes after you have "taught" the Dewey Decimal System, but our classes like to play Dewey Decimal Bingo. I pass out a sheet of paper already divided into 9 squares [3 x 3]. I let the students "make" their own game board by having them write wherever they want 9 of the 10 DD catagories [ie. 000, 100, 200, etc.]. Then I call out titles of non-fiction books [making sure the title pretty much assures being able to guess the correct category] and we play traditional 3 in a row or 4 corners. Of course, they have a 'cheat sheet' of each of the 10 categories and a brief description of each so they have something to go by. They like the fact that they have created their own gameboard, and therefore, their own luck.
Try having kids illustrate "quilt" squares for each division. They have to research their section, design their square and then draw and color.
You can then assemble the quilt with "backing" and hang. Just paper, not material and no sewing.
For the third year I'm having my classes make their own "Dewey Tree of Knowledge" by explaining that the different classifications were like
brancheof a tree. They will draw a picture of a tree and put ten brachnes on thetree. Each branch will be labeled with each number and
the corresponding classification. They can put anything else in the picture that they want. I tell them that they will not be graded on
their art work (that helps with someof the non-artists), but on the content. If they just put the numbers, that's points off. If they just
put the classifications, that's points off. They have to include both. Explain that just the numbers doesn't tell me anything and just the
classifications doesn't tell me where anything would go. It hasworked. Most of the children seem to like this approach. I saved some of
thework from the past two years to show the students this year and they loved seeing what other students drew.
I usually do a series of lessons where I "book talk" Dewey. I do an intro. explaining that Dewey is sort of like a secret code, talk about
the universality (?) of it, how it works in the public library, too, and at other school libraries, etc. Then each week covers 1-3 of the
hundreds, with selected books to show examples of what would be found in that section. At some point I even give an elaborate demonstration of the numbers after the decimal - showing the difference, for example, in 599.1, 599.2, 599.73, 599.74, 599.78, etc. The students are usually interested in how it works. As a culminating activity, the students do a "treasure hunt" in pairs or small groups, with a worksheet with only dewey numbers. They have to find a book on the shelf with the matching dewey and write down what the subject of that book is. The group with the most correct answers wins special bookmarks.
A friend of mine did a scavenger hunt, dividing the students into teams and giving them a variety of clues. One wet and rainy week, she even
divided them into 2 teams and had them race to different sections - obviously, as she pointed out, it had been a long week with a lot of
rain.
First I tell them how easy it is to find book using the Dewey System if they know how to count from 1 to 10 and by 100s to a 1,000. Then I do two activities, one we play stump Mrs. Geronzina and they think of a subject and I tell them the call number and decimal point if there will be one for the subejct they give me. (They always think I'm very smart because I can do this.) the other activity is that I wrtie the call
numbers and titles for about 30 books on cards. I give them the card and they find the book and bring it to me. then they take the book bac
and put in on the shelf where they got it. Give them a marker to put in the books place because if you are going to do this with very many
classes the books have to be in the right places to be dound again. These activities are a lot of fun.
Although a much smaller school (K-8 with a total of 375 students), I too found a much neglected card catalog and just a glimmer of hope for
automation. A few activities I have done :
Always stress the call number when a student is looking for a particular book;
Scavenger Hunt sort of thing - either give the call number & have them find the book or list various subjects, have them look as a team to find those books and jot down the call number;
tell that old Dewey story - wandering through, he had an idea, etc. I'm sure someone will suggest it;
I have done an anctivity with 3rd & 4th graders where I hand-write a card with each of their names, file it in the card catalog. So then they
have to look alphabetically then go to the number on the corner of the card to sit where it says. It is time consuming to set up, but always lots of fun. I always look up my own first where it says NEVER take a card from the drawer - this is just for fun, etc. And I ask the teacher to stay to find her name too then it says something like - Mrs. Jones you have the best class in the world.
And I have tried to take one section per week to talk about what's there and do a related activity. But I haven't had good luck with getting through all ten divisions. Maybe this year.
How about a scavenger hunt with you giving them the call numbers (I call them book addresses) of certain books and a work sheet with lines on it for them to supply the titles and authors of the books. I usually let them work in teams of 2. You could also divide them into 10 groups and assign each to a grouping of Dewey. The object is to find three different subjects in each of the Dewey groups and to make up pantomimes using any objects except their voices to teach the rest of the class about their numbers. I usually model the 000's
and the 100's so that they see what to do. This takes a little prep but it went over well last year.
With the younger ones I have some laminated strips of construction paper that I write simple book addresses on with water soluble marker. I usually use just the easy authors so that they get used to the order on the shelves.
I've also done floor plans where I give them the labels and they have to walk around and find out where they belong. This is usually a good intro to the library.
000s Generalities, random things
100s Thoughts and feelings
200s Our beliefs
300s Communities
400s Languages
500s Numbers and nature
600s How we use science
700s Arts, sports and play
800s Literature
900s Places and history
Lanie Williamson
Librarian
Cullman City Primary School
Cullman, AL
laniewilliamson@cullmancats.net
Responses:
Highsmith has the Dewey Body poster, great for this age.
I got a cool poster from Upstart. Here is a link
http://www.highsmith.com/upstart/search/dewey/
Lanie,
I don't know if this is simple enough for you...
100's Who am I? (psychology, philosophy)
200's Who made me? How did I get here? (Religion, mythology)
300's Living in community with others
400's Communicating with others (Languages)
500's This world around me
600's What can we do with this world around us?
700's What can I do with my free time?
800's Let's write down our thoughts
900's Let's write down about our world and our history
000's The unexplained, many subjects in one book, miscellaneous info
Our K-2 respond well to the concept of "neighborhoods" as described in Shelf
Elf Helps Out by Jackie Mims Hopkins. It can be broken downand presented in
more than one lesson.
You may be able to adapt something from this website about the DDC created
by 6th graders: http://library.thinkquest.org/5002/
Especially, check out the story "Dewey and the Alien":
http://library.thinkquest.org/5002/Alien/alien.htm
Something I was thinking about in my library, was to assign a community
helper (first grade studies community helpers) to each of the dewey
sections. Like a librarian for the 000's. Have not tried it yet, or
finished thinking about it yet, but if it inspires you let me know what you
do with it.
I do "kid friendly terms" like:
000-random things
100-thinking books
200-religions
300-old stories
400-languages
500-animals and science
600-how to books
700-fun activities
800-poems and songs
900-history
lanie- I always found that referring to the shelves as streets and the books
as houses on the streets helped get the idea of location across- then i
would say that the Dewey ## are the Book's address. I have never worked with
K's before,but first graders have never had a problem with the concept.
bbrown@altonschools.org
Check out my Dewey Decimal for Kids--and if you come up with better
kid-friendly terms, let me know as I'm always open to suggestions. On the
LM-Net wiki you'll find it in a word doc on the Dewey Decimal page:
http://lmnet.wikispaces.com/Dewey+Decimal+System Lots of other good stuff
there as well.
or on our school library pages:
http://www.cf.k12.wi.us/library/deweydecimal.htm
Years ago, when movies came out on VHS, WalMart would advertise with these
big cardboard displays. I got those and put them on the top of my tall
shelves. These are the ones used: Cinderella's Castle for the 398.2 section.
Buzz & Woody from Toy Story for Space. Bug's Life for the 500's. "Real"
dalmations from 101 Dalmations for "real" animals in the 700's. (as compared
to the animated animals in the Easy section.) Aristocats for the 900's
because they were "famous cats"... biographies. Lion King for Africa and
foreign countries.
They were huge but great because I could be across the library, point to the
dalmations and tell the child to look on the 3rd shelf down.
Have you seen those Ellison die-cuts? I had those on individual shelves
also.(not in this picture though)
One idea might be to use a few small pictures of the books that are included
in the Dewey section. Like for the 500s, have a sign that says Science but
then have pictures of animals, the earth, and weather (clouds or something).
That way they can get a better idea of what is in each section by seeing
pictures that are probably familiar to them.
Did you try the Wiki? Someone made a great set of Dewey sign using Wordle.
They are great for little ones!
go to the LMNET wiki http://lmnet.wikispaces.com/Dewey+Decimal+System
We posted very simple Dewey posters there - the 2nd item down!
I like this site for Dewey
Maybe it will give you some ideas
http://library.thinkquest.org/5002/
Long, long ago (originally 1979, reprinted in 1986) Learning magazine
printed a wonderfully simple version of the ten Dewey decades which I have
used ever since with my elementary students.
100s Thinking, Feeling and Wondering
200s Religion and Prayer
300s Living and Learning Together
400s Words and Languages
500s Nature and Numbers
600s Making, Selling and Fixing Things
700s Arts and Play
800s Literature
900s People, Places and Events
000s Odds and Ends
Might a version of this serve the needs of your little ones?
The original poster printed in the magazine included a somewhat more
detailed description for each decade. (ex. "500s--This includes books about
animals, plants, oceans, stars, mathematics, electricity, gravity and
chemistry.") I have a copy of this text and will be happy to send it to you
if you think it would be useful.